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30/01/2010

From The Daily Mail
What are you wearing mummy? Stella McCartney inspired by bandage chic for day at beach with kids

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 2:02 AM on 30th January 2010

Stella McCartney may have been tasked with designing Alice In Wonderland-inspired jewellery to accompany the forthcoming Disney movie.

But, judging by these pictures of her on holiday in the Caribbean, it looks as though she's taken inspiration from an older action classic, The Mummy.

The fashion queen must be as mad as The Hatter to think that a purple all-in-one that resembles a 1950s bathing costume for the undead is a winning look.

The Adidas design, by Stella herself, will surely hit store shelves soon as the mother-of-three joined forces with the sportswear label in 2008.

Stella said: 'There's just no need for sportswear to be unattractive,
'I was just so disappointed in what was available for women. Sportswear has always been just an afterthought, we're expected to put up with ugly colours and nasty fabrics.'

The designer was on a break ahead of her pre-collection showcase during Paris Couture Fashion Week yesterday.

Looking cool and relaxes in denim and a camel coat, the holiday appeared to have had a relaxing effect.

Stella's show was held at the British Embassy in Paris and featured a cashmere cape, lace dress over lace leggings and a frill-fronted evening dress.

28/01/2010

Yesterday evening, I had half an hour of the most unexpected fun in Paris.

Trotted along to the British Embassy to catch the end of Stella McCartney’s pre-collection: that’s a heads-up for winter 2010 delivered in store around the end of June. Was greeted by a pinstriped English butler who was stoking a crackling log fire. Huge balloons floated above a corridor full of accessories and a massive illuminated STELLA pointed the way to a ballroom where a ceilidh was in full swing.

Thought for a moment it was a recording but turns out it was a proper Irish band: men from Belfast and Donegal playing uillean pipes and fiddles. And there was a table groaning with iced Victoria sponge and shortbread petticoat tails. What a laugh! Turns out the band were none other than Guy Ritchie's resident providers of craic at his pub, The Punchbowl, and are releasing an album in March.

And there was Stella, looking incredibly chic in denim flares and a camel jacket, styling the models as they were clearly relaxing into the party spirit.
Want an idea of what to start saving for? My money’s on the cashmere cape, the trouser suit with elongated lapels, the lace dress over lace leggings, the waterfall frill-fronted evening dress and the tweed tote trimmed with chain. It looked like the perfect capsule wardrobe for an urban girl who likes her weekends in the country. I positively bounced out of there full of the joys.

Star-of-the-moment Carey Mulligan is busy fighting Hollywood greats Meryl Streep and Audrey Tautou in the race for the Bafta’s Best Actress gong.

But the heroine of An Education admitted she had something else on her mind when she attended the Golden Globes bash in Los Angeles.

Her dad is from Liverpool and she said he was delivered at Walton Hospital by Sir Paul’s mum.

The 24-year-old desperately wanted to meet the ex-Beatle, a fellow guest at the glittering ceremony.

She said she wanted to share with him how his mum, Mary, delivered her dad, Stephen, during her 10 years at the Rice Lane hospital’s maternity unit.

Mrs McCartney trained at Alder Hey before moving to Walton Hospital, where she was eventually promoted to ward Sister.

She later became a domiciliary health visitor and midwife.

Sir Paul once said his earliest memory was seeing her cycle away in the snow when she was needed to deliver a baby at someone’s home.

Carey spoke to reporters on the red carpet at the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards.
She said: “I saw Sir Paul McCartney at the Golden Globes and that made me go ‘Oh My God’ because my dad was delivered by his mum, he’s originally from Liverpool.

“I just wanted to go and tell him that.”

Mr Mulligan later left Liverpool to move to London where his actress daughter was born.

The whole family, including Carey’s Welsh mum Nano and her brother Owain, moved to Germany when she was three.

She later worked as a barmaid before landing roles alongside Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice and in the BBC series Bleak House.
But her acclaimed turn as 16-year-old Jenny in the 1960s-set An Education is her breakthrough.

Carey’s dad was one of thousands of babies safely delivered by Mrs McCartney at Walton.

She returned to give birth to both her sons there – James Paul in 1942 and Peter Michael in 1944.

Mrs McCartney died in 1956 when the boys were just 14 and 12.
Sir Paul reportedly wrote Let It Be after his mum appeared to him in a dream “speaking words of wisdom”.
Musician and photographer Mike McCartney, who formed The Scaffold, used a picture of his mum on his first album, Woman, in 1972.

Paul and Nancy get stranded at a Santa Monica Mountains hike trail when his corvette wouldn't start. They were picked up by his security team and his car was given a jump by one of his assistance and driven back home.

19/01/2010

Vegetarian. A word that, until a few years back, used to fill me with rage and despair.

As a card-carrying carnivore, I took childish offence at the meat-avoiders, seeing them as a threat to virility and good taste. Sure, there were those who couldn't indulge for reasons of religion or health. But the rest? They were the Enemy, to be teased, taunted and abused.

How I howled with laughter when I heard the tale of a famous chef sneaking chicken stock into a vegetarian risotto. I'd sneer in restaurants as denizens of the adjacent table would politely enquire after the 'vegetarian option'. And crow as the waiter would offer that dreary old fall-back, the goat's cheese salad.

Spineless, finger-wagging fools, I'd chortle, as I tucked into an entire side of seared cow. Alongside my self-righteous rage came the clichés too - whey-faced yoghurt-knitters, nut roast-fiddlers, stinking, flatulent hippies. The insults were as endless as they were pathetic. And now I wince at the very memory of my boorish antics.

These days, things are different. I have moved from my previous hatred of vegetarians to 'respect' (which in retrospect seems immensely patronising) to an eventual shrug and 'so what?'. Who am I to harangue anyone as to what they shove in their gob?

As an ardent fan of processed cheese slices, cinema nachos, Dr Pepper, fizzy Vimto, Quavers, McDonald's cheeseburgers and Cadbury Dairy Milk, I'm hardly in any position to be taking the moral high ground.

So when I heard about Meat-Free Monday, a campaign launched a few months back by Paul McCartney and family, along with Moby and Sam Taylor-Wood, I was intrigued. They argue that meat production and consumption are responsible for 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions, and by going meat-free for one day per week we can help reduce its impact.

As to the science, this is a fraught and complex issue, with no black or white, merely shades of grey. But there's no doubting the plain common sense of the message.

Most of us have meat-free days without realising. How difficult is it to feast upon spaghetti al pomodoro instead of mince? You just soften a chopped onion and clove of garlic in olive oil, add two tins of tomatoes, season and cook down for half an hour. Finish with a handful of chopped basil.

I'm not saying that I could give up meat full-time. I worship the pig and cow too much, and would be bereft without the contents of our rivers and oceans.

Armed, though, with a few excellent books - Linda McCartney's World Of Vegetarian Cooking is a glorious tome, and Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book is a bible too, despite a smattering of meat dishes - and an open mind, Meat-Free Monday is something to really savour.

By Judi James
Credit where it’s due. Being borderline fed up with some of the cheesier coupledom poses (I’m joking, of course – I adore them really), it’s like a refreshing bucket of Atlantic brine to spot a high-profile duo, other than the Obamas, produce something deserving an ‘ah’ response from the viewing public.

Stella McCartney and hubby Alasdhair Willis rate high on the cuteness factor but they also do well on the ‘genuine’ swingometer, too, by posing in a way that makes their relationship look a) real and b) a bit cheering, as in looking at it enhances the mood of the viewer. We’re used to seeing Stella out with girlie party pals like Mossie, so it’s nice to discover her man is a bit of a body-language god on the quiet.

That masculine leg-splay and debonair hand-in-the-pocket look combines with the full-on wifely attention and cheek-dimple to make him appear affectionate and witty, both qualities that can be as rare as hens’ teeth in the world of A-list society.

Another mark in his favour comes from the fact that he isn’t springing away with footwork niftier than Anton Du Beke’s cha-cha-cha as his wife does a coy, giggly thing, resting her forehead on his lapel. As any face-to-whistle gesture will normally produce a make-up slick on a man’s suit, we can probably add words such as ‘tolerant’ and ‘non-vain’ to Alasdhair’s CV of wonderfulness.

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